Summary The broader Topix index of all first-section shares rose 2.59 percent, or 35.64 points, to 1,411.16.
TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo stocks rebounded 2.70 percent on bargain-buying Wednesday following a global equities rout, but heavyweight Japan Tobacco plunged as investors dismissed its $5.0 billion purchase of a US-cigarette brand as too pricey.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained gained 457.31 points to 17,388.15 by the close.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares rose 2.59 percent, or 35.64 points, to 1,411.16.
A weakening of the yen supported Japanese exporter shares as investors look ahead to the Bank of Japan s quarterly Tankan business confidence report Thursday.
In July, the Tankan showed confidence among major Japanese manufacturers rose to the highest level in more than a year.
On Wednesday, fresh data showed Japan s factory output contracted 0.5 percent on-month in August, reigniting fears that the world s number three economy could slip into recession after a contraction in the second-quarter, as a slowdown in China hurts Japan.
"There s a high chance that Japan s economy may contract in the July to September period for a second consecutive quarter, given today s production figures," Koya Miyamae, chief economist at SMBC Nikko, told Bloomberg News.
"Looking ahead, production will probably stay sluggish as exports remain weak."
Japan is probably in a recession with a "decisively weak" industrial production report, a J.P. Morgan economist said in an email to clients before Japanese equity markets closed.
Investors will also pay attention to a speech by US central bank chief Janet Yellen later in the day for cues on the direction of US monetary policy, her first since indicating last week that a hike in the near-zero federal funds rate remains on the table for 2015.
Washington will release September unemployment figures on Friday, with the improving labour market a key factor supporting the Fed s plan to hike rates.
JT tumbled 6.71 percent to 3,695.0 yen after the tobacco giant said it reached an agreement with Reynolds American to buy its Natural American Spirit brand outside the US.
The purchase was worth a whopping 286 times the unit s pre-tax profit last year, according to Bloomberg News.
Toyota shares gained 3.75 percent to 6,971.0 yen, while market heavyweight Fast Retailing, operator of the Uniqlo clothing chain, was up 2.84 percent to 48,490.0 yen.
On currency markets, the dollar rose to 119.92 yen from 119.75 yen Tuesday in New York.
The euro traded lower at $1.1234 and 134.73 yen compared with $1.1254 and 134.77 yen in US trade.
